Life Sentence - General Discussion

[possibilities]

I was also annoyed that she thought she was going to expand her world to be SO BIG by what? Trying to pay her rent on that barista job? Try supporting yourself with no skills and no support, and see how BIG your life becomes.

And she rewarded Dr Creepy by thanking him, when all he did was stalk and sexually harass her. The people writing this show were hacks who just don't know what they were doing. They took a rich premise and gave it an incredibly weak treatment, they almost seemed to be trying to make the show as bad as possible. Heroic, suffering dudes! Women who don't know what they want and cause anguish to the heroic loving dudes! Icky.

[possibilities]

Also: you don't get a loan to buy a building without doing an inspection. If the entire place need to be re-plumbed, that would have been known before the sale.

Edited June 17, 2018 by possibilities

[WhosThatGirl]

7 hours ago, ketose said:

Most of the TV I watch is on the CW. Shows like Arrow and the Flash continue past the point where I quit watching. Legends is hanging in because they retooled a bit. I think after stuff like No Tomorrow and Life Sentence, this kind of TV may not be possible on the CW anymore. I kind of wish they'd stop trying to strike gold, then immediately cancel when they inevitably don't

That’s why I have zero hope for the football teen drama show for the fall and the thing is, I’ll probably like it. I’m a sucker for a teen drama(see my rant and raves over on the Riverdale forums) and I feel like it has a Friday night lights vibe but I just don’t see it being cw Material, it doesn’t look like it’s going to fit. I could be wrong but it doesn’t look like it’ll be a good fit. 

[tennisgurl]

I am sad to see the show ending, when it had so much potential and such a great cast. Focusing on the love triangle was a terrible idea, when they had so many other more interesting plots they could have done more with, and that might have been a part of why the show didnt get renewed. 

Of course, I think that TV in general is messing things up a lot with promoting and renewing their shows. They dont promote their shows, try to change things for asinine reasons, and then cancel them when they cant get ratings out of thin air.

I am still glad I watched it, if nothing else.

[STOPSHOUTING]

On 5/3/2018 at 5:50 PM, Enginerd said:

My comments have been fairly negative, but I actually really enjoy this show. I love a not-too-serious drama with pretty people in a beautiful little town, like Gilmore Girls or Hart of Dixie, even if the plots and characters are sometimes a little aggravating. ...

Anyway. More aspirational real estate ogling and more scenes of Wes being handsome, please. More furniture building would not be unwelcome.

I think this pilot had such potential. The cast is really good, very pretty (superficial but true) and the premise is super interesting. They actually won me over with when they kept Stella and Wes together, instead of just dimissing him right away. Just to bring in a not-at-all appealing, both in character beats and the actor doesn’t do anything for me either (not just looks, but charmless). Pitting creepy doc against super sweet and never-not-awesome Wes seems unfair, and that there’s any question about who she should “chose” is just ... no. 

I had hoped this could be another sweet, sunny and lovely Hart of Dixie-esque romp, but it sort of veers between boring and poorly thought out. (Mom’s disappearing girlfriend. Money problems that come and go.) The tone just doesn’t match the subject matter most of the time. Shame, because I think they could have really had something here.

[ketose]

They also build up big consequences and then resolve them, mostly with Aiden. There's also Diego and his boss, who hopefully doesn't resent the on and off crap from Peter. And does Wes want to get back at Pippa or does he still feel the same way as when he left for the honeymoon?

[STOPSHOUTING]

I like the parents. I like the brother (Aiden) and brother-in-law and Wes and Stella together are the heart of this show. Breaking them up for Dr Creepy is gross. It’s amazing how little chemistry they have compared to she and Wes, even more so given he and Lucy Hale are apparently dating in real life.

Ugh, since the show is already cancelled and knew it didn’t end with any closure, should have just stopped watching after last episode. 

Edited June 25, 2018 by STOPSHOUTING

[RachelKM]

I kind of hate this show.  I stopped watching for a bit and just watched the last 3.   I know everyone is down on the doctor, but I actually think Stella is just as bad.  I appreciate that she tried to set boundaries.  But she also makes every interaction with his awkward and charged.  He's inappropriate, but she's an immature spaz around him.  I don't say that to excuse Dr. Creepy.  Because he is a boundary ignoring asshat.  He should never have made the comment about meeting her before she got married.  I just think Stella acts like an adolescent idiot around him. And it's not like she turned away when he spotted him in the bar, she was totally eye fucking him back in the bar.  I don't recall whether Dr. Creepy knew her husband and family were there or if he had seen her before he spotted her during that song.

I can forgive her since she's is probably somewhat emotionally arrested since she spent most of her adolescence in a hospital.  That explains her behavior, but it doesn't change the fact of it.  The show sort of acknowledged it with her "it's not the fairy tale" thing. 

I appreciate Stella, though, when she's in defense of Sadie mode.

Oh, and why did the show bring Pippa back into this shit?  If they think a makes Stella's sorta flirtation with the doctor and his absolute flirtation with her better?  It doesn't.    It just annoys me. Likewise the interview in SF.  I would have accepted too.

I'm getting tired of Aiden's whining.  

I do like Diego... That was hella risky, but I'm glad it worked out. 

[RachelKM]

Annnnnd, Dr. Creepy can suck it. Jesus that was a pathetic display.  Attraction or no, she told you she didn't want to be with you. LEAVE IT.  However idiotic Stella was about Dr. Grant in the beginning, she was totally fucking clear when he kissed her.  His continued overtures were soooooo beyond inappropriate and disgusting.  

I'm glad Ida made the gesture to Gina at the end.  But damn, sometimes she's a dick.  Did she really inform Gina that she and Peter had sex AND decided not to file the divorce papers in the same breath?  Again, Jesus.

Edited June 25, 2018 by RachelKM

[STOPSHOUTING]

I was a big fan of Hart of Dixie and got similar sunny vibes from this show's pilot. Actually, when I watched the pilot I thought they were gonna quickly write off Wes and send him back to Europe for her to start over with her new, blown-up, non-cancer life. When they didn't do that, I was actually a lot MORE intrigued in the show. The next couple episodes didn't really hold up that well, and the dropping of the baby plot for Aidan and the girlfriend for mom seemed like new writers or cost-cutting or just random stabs. The addition of Dr. Creepy was just wildly off-putting, not only because Wes and Stella have crazy great chemistry but because, based on the nickname adopted by this forum, which I hardily endorse, he was ALWAYS, from second one, not some distracting hottie, but a total, wildly inappropriate jerk. One thing Hart of Dixie did really well was when it became clear that the chemistry between the guy who was supposed to be the main character's "distraction" was a lot greater than the guy who was supposed to be the OTP, they course corrected. Here, they bounced back and forth so wildly with plots and ideas, it was definitely throwing stuff against a wall, but never giving it time to stick, with massive tonal shifts, episode to episode. 

The idea that Wes and Stella's marriage was in big trouble came and went; they never fully broke them up, but they also never let them be happy. Pick a lane. And the idea of the bar could have worked, but the idea they were in such terrible trouble they were out of business after ONE NIGHT was so ridiculous I can not even. Lizzie drifted in and out of the show as if the actress kept getting lost on the way to the set, and the town never became the character it should have in this type of show, a la Stars Hollow or Bluebell. They also never settled on a tone. Was it rom-com romp? Serious tragedy?

So much potential, and a mostly terrific cast, really wasted when I think there's very much a space for just such a show. Swing and a miss. 

Oh and, saying Finlay "just turned 21" ... Umm, yeah, nope. Why not have her come into a trust fund at 30? Or something relatively believable to the actresses actual age. I mean, don't get me wrong, she looks great, but she doesn't look 21, nor does that age match up to her job, and how long she's been doing it. And it also makes her significantly younger than Hale's character is supposed to be, who looks far younger.

Edited June 25, 2018 by STOPSHOUTING

[RachelKM]

I watched the last several episodes last night.  It wasn't a chore precisely, but it was disappointing.   Like most people, I felt this show had a good cast, interesting premise, and a lot of potential.  Unfortunately, that potential was woefully unrealized.

I think a lot of the issue was that the show couldn't decide on a tone and lacked focus.  It spent an inordinate amount of time focusing on stupid shit like Aiden's dating, the quickly dropped story of his maybe-baby-daddy story (seriously, just to have her come in at the end of the show and not invest?), and his drug arrest.  And while it was interesting to see the parents deal with the sudden realization that for most of the last 8 years being co-advocates and parents for their daughter had been their entire focus and their relationship had otherwise atrophied, we spend waaaaayyyy too much time on their post break up self-exploration.  I didn't need to see them dating and the other BS, particularly if they were going to end up trying to start over by the end of the season.  The sister was used in an appropriate amount for the most part; but in odd intervals due to her in and out status on the show.   

I understand that the show was try to explore how a health crisis effects an entire family, not just the person who's ill.  It was just too much for the show to focus on in 13 episodes.  

I also think the show wanted to be frothy and sunny, yet serious. But  it ended up being shallow and slap-dash.  It wanted to be family-dramady,  romantic comedy, and soap opera all in on. Part of that was the rush to get through so many people's things so quickly noted above.  It lead to easy tropes instead of investment.

The most obvious issue was the Dr. Creepy.  There were about 15 wrong notes about this.  First of all, it was totally unnecessary.  As ultimately established, they had a built in reason for Stella and Wes to have issues and realize they needed to reevaluate, i.e. the entire basis for their quick marriage had been removed.  They had time to explore.  Plus the "Wes made his marriage a one man Make-a-Wish project" and Stella didn't really know much about him.  And, of course, the fact that Stella had never dated and spent her entire adolescence in a hospital thinking she likely wouldn't see 25.  I give the show credit for eventually getting there.  But it was hinted at in the first two episodes and then basically ignored for 6 episode and then popped back up in therapy only to finally come out in the finale. 

Secondly, it would have been better for Stella to have been interested in someone 1) her own age, 2) not in a position of authority, and 3) someone who wasn't actively pursuing her while she tried to set boundaries.  It made sense for her to want to talk to a person who got the illness of a loved one imploding a family thing.... but it was a cancer wing.  There were probably people dealing with that at every turn. Why make him a doctor who would be her superior in hospital position and necessarily closed to 10 years older than her? It would have been inappropriate if she had not spent half her formative years in a hospital bed.    And it would have been nice for the guy to have just been a nice guy she was attracted to and had an connection with and her as the one wanting more.  The point of that story for Stella was that, loving Wes or no, she didn't have enough experience to know what she wanted, who she was, or what it was like to be in a normal relationship without a (believed) fixed expiration date. 

I felt the therapy sessions were good, but it took WAY too long for those issues to be discussed.  I realize that, in real life, those issues usually do take time to push people to the point of discussion, but this was a 13 episode season and it had a built in dramatic catalyst in the first episode.  When Stella found out Wes had basically been playing a part in a wish-fulfillment fantasy land marriage, she could have decided that was last straw in a OMG everyone has been lying to me and my entire reality is a lie premise and taken the obvious step back.

I also thought the show played up the manic-pixie-dream-girl aspect of Stella too much.  Yes, Lucy Hale is charming and does optimism well.  But her world was completely upended.  Near perpetual plucky determination took all the emotional weight out of her situation.  Even Vanellope von Schweetz had more emotional moments and motivation.  The one way they tried to make her not perfect was, ironically, also a missed opportunity.  She was portrayed as totally self-absorbed allowing Wes to twist himself in knots for her even after she was cured and she learned how he'd been doing that all along.  But really, that was as much on him.  It would have been nice if, upon finding that out, Stella had taken that as part of why she was worried about staying together.  That Wes had rearranged his existence to suit her desires at every turn and she owed him or she needed to make their relationship about them and not just her. 

And, I just wrote an essay. Okay, short version: This show could have been really good, which made the miss that much more disappointing.

Edited June 25, 2018 by RachelKM

[WhosThatGirl]

Yeah.. this show was a good idea. And if I’m being honest, I’m not entirely against the love triangle(I mean I hate them because in real life, love triangles don’t really exist and if they do, it’s not really how they portray them in tv/movies but I digress), because I do think Stella would have been like “oh I’ve never dated before” but I hated the situation the show put her in and the doctor being obsessive like “I’m in love with you!” After.. a month? How long had she and the doctor even known each other? 

I liked her finding out things the family kept from her though. That was interesting.

i agree that this show didn’t know what it wanted to be but again I have to say, it didn’t fit on the cw network. I’m not sure what network it would have fit on but I feel like this wasn’t a cw show. I know hart of Dixie was also an odd show for the network and they survived a few years but still.

[Anela]

I've just watched this on Netflix, after finding it there when I checked on my phone. I wasn't expecting to watch more than five minutes, but I mostly enjoyed it. 

[Anela]

On 3/22/2018 at 7:51 PM, SallyAlbright said:

Riley Smith (Dr. Grant) is dating Lucy Hale in real life now, just a fun fact. He used to be really cute (shut up, I remember him in Disney's "Motocrossed"), but is so thin these days that it's aged him. Hope he is in good health. 

I don't care for the love triangle because I already love Wes so much, but I think it's realistic. Stella was sick from the time she was 15, when most girls start dating and meeting different types of guys. She got really lucky and married the first one she fell in love with, who also happens to be sweet and funny and adorable. I kind of wish they'd only been engaged or something when the show started, because I actually don't mind the thought of her dating around, just not at the expense of cute Wes and his feelings!

  Reveal hidden contents

Luckily, I don't think this triangle will last long as Riley Smith was just cast as a regular in another pilot. 

Anyway, I am still really enjoying this show. It's a fun escape every week and is sweet and funny. Lucy Hale is quite a good comedic actress, which was not used enough on Pretty Little Liars. 

An instagram post from the guy who plays Wes, seems to indicate that he's in a relationship with her. At least, that's the impression I got, when I looked them all up last night.

I hate love triangles. I haven't finished watching the episode yet, but I was happy to find it last night. Although I can't picture a doctor being okay with her just stealing a file, and getting confidential information. I really like Wes, so I hope nothing more happens with this guy. 

[ketose]

I didn't realize before the show ended that Riley Smith was the dad from CW's "Frequency." He was playing a guy who you didn't know if he was a sleaze or a good guy. That must be his niche, because Dr. Grant comes off about the same.

[biakbiak]

17 hours ago, Anela said:

An instagram post from the guy who plays Wes, seems to indicate that he's in a relationship with her. At least, that's the impression I got, when I looked them all up last night.

They are just friends not dating. I don’t know if she and Dr Creepy are still dating but they were dating during filming and when it premiered.

Riley is a bad actor and doesn’t have charisma.

Edited July 1, 2018 by biakbiak

[Anela]

I've only seen a couple of episodes of PLL, but every time someone mentions it, I get the theme song stuck in my head. It's catchy that way.

They are throwing way too much into it at once. They're trying too hard to be quirky, and I still feel the love triangle - which I hate, whenever there is one in any show, movie, or book - was thrown in way too fast. 

The ex-fiance bothered me. Of course Wes would have some difficult feelings pop up when she turned up, and he found out that she'd been in Paris, looking for him, but I also understood Stella's concern. I loved her obvious anger in the kitchen, after she'd invited the ex over, just because it felt real. I didn't take to his ex at all. it was obvious that she wanted him back, or was jealous that he'd moved on. 

I don't like the doctor, since he came on too strong, after hearing that she was married (and invites her to things that you would have a date for). 

[Anela]

On 4/27/2018 at 10:56 PM, possibilities said:

Did I miss something? Did Mom and her girlfriend break up between episodes, or did they show us and I forgot?

I guess so. I think the mum was jealous of Peter having a girlfriend, she seemed to enjoy herself with him and her grandkids, eating ice cream. But again, it seems way too fast. She's suddenly bi in the first episode, but by the sixth she's broken up with her and is now homeless? After forcing her husband to sell the house, because she didn't want to live there anymore.

And I know what it's like to have your life destroyed by someone/something, but I wish they would stop blaming her cancer for everything wrong in their lives. 

[Anela]

I haven't finished watching this yet, but I figured the parents would get back together. Everything's happening too fast, though! Next, she'll be wanting the house back. 

[Anela]

I really don't like the doctor. "I think you're saving me, too." Ugh, go away. That's too heavy, when she's repeatedly said that she loves her husband, and I hate it when TV shows throw people together this way, so that they're forced to interact. 

[Anela]

I was expecting it all to work out. 

I'm glad that Peter was there for his daughter. It grated a bit, hearing him tell his girlfriend that she was his main priority, but then it bugged me when someone on another show told their partner that they only needed them. They have family. It's a pet peeve of mine. 

I was getting annoyed when Stella pushed Wes on the bar, but I'll be fine with it if he really wanted to open it. 

[Anela]

I was watching this last night, and thinking, "All of these people are awful". Well, most of them were acting like it.

[Anela]

Well, that was crap. I'm glad she chose herself, and that things ended well with Wes, that she sent Dr. Creepy off by himself (because he really was pushy and creepy). I liked the show at first, and I have really needed lighter shows to watch, but they did SO MUCH in this first season. Ease up a bit, writers. 

[IrishPirate]

I watched this on Netflix this week. For some reason I thought it was a Netflix original series. Loved the premise, but the timeline was so screwy. No one gets a loan, buys a building (with no adequate inspection), refurbishes the place, and then opens on Friday night, and all without checking in with the probation officer. I think I was expecting someone to wake up from the dream sequence finally.

 

No second season? I'm not surprised.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Lucy Hale has replaced Jenny McCarthy as Ryan Seacrest's cohost for Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve

[nara]

I enjoyed the show but found Stella insufferable. Forcing your husband to go into business with your lazy, drug dealer brother? Thinking you can support your family as a barista? This is not a knock on Lucy Hale, who was luminous and charming, as usual. I do think that the arrested development of Lucy due to her illness was to blame. And how can anyone possibly be attracted to Dr Grant, when he’s the type of man to insistently hit on a married woman? Diego  and Peter were my faves, followed by Wes.